Matthias Maute, conductor, flutist (recorder and traverso), composer, and artistic director of the Ensemble Caprice, has devised a delightful concept bringing together the Baroque repertoire: a lively and virtuoso quintet evoking this era and… chocolate.
Discovered and adopted by the conquistadors in the Americas, the famous cacao bean was introduced to Spain before crossing the Pyrenees and winning over France. The arrival of chocolate in Europe coincided with the Baroque period, providing an excellent opportunity to establish the link through a French Baroque program.
A highly entertaining program with an even greater focus on chocolate!
Highly popular since its revival, Le 9e was almost full on the late afternoon of January 20, marking a resounding success in terms of attendance and the concept put forward by the Caprice, ArtChoral, Opéra M3F, and HausMusique ensembles.
Although the program featured great French composers such as Marin Marais, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Marc-Antoine Charpentier, and François Couperin from the outset, one had to be truly passionate about this ancient repertoire to be familiar with the works. As suggested by Matthias Maute, it was best to let oneself be carried away by the proposed journey and enjoy the pleasure generated by these performances.
The first pair of pieces highlighted the ensemble as a whole: Mathias Maute and Sophie Larivière on flutes (recorder and traverso), Jean-Christophe Lizotte on baroque cello, David Jacques on baroque guitar, and Zya Tabassian on baroque and oriental percussion—remember that the link between the West and the East was much more evident in the Baroque era.
So we will first be treated to a Spanish Sarabande by Rémi Médard, followed by Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s fearless Chaconne, to set the mood for this distant era.
Lanchas par bailar, a work by an unknown composer, and Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Airs et danses pour le théâtre, the second pair of pieces on the chocolate menu, demanded all the technical skills of the flutists, whose two-part polyphony gave us the opportunity to contemplate these instruments, which are difficult to master and too little known to music lovers.
The (small) ensemble Caprice then followed with a third pair of works: Les délices de la solitude (The Delights of Solitude) by Joseph Bodin de Boismortier and Vertigo (a title chosen two and a half centuries before Alfred Hitchcock) by Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer. The first was percussive and the second was captivating for the flutists’ playing, as well as for their conversation with the baroque cello, which responded beautifully, not to mention the strong bond established with the other members of the ensemble.
Chocolate triumphed before the performance of Marin Marais’ Les Folies d’Espagne and Le tic-toc-Chocolat. We all greedily devoured the chocolate egg we were given at the entrance, while the flutes and light percussion played their hearts out.
Ziya Tabassian’s drums and percussion launched the final assault: pretty Parisian Contredanses, Rigaudon, calm Rondeau, very rhythmic Poivre, jagged Prince Torge, reassuring Manches vertes, which one imagines to be an ancient version of the well-known Greensleeves, all concluded with a powerful exchange between flutes and percussion, entitled Les sept sauts.
Much more than just a tasty snack!
